


Loyal, Brave and True

by delaneym_15



Series: Chronicles of the Blue Paladin [3]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Bisexual Lance (Voltron), But he comes back, Cuban Lance (Voltron), Established Keith/Lance (Voltron), Hurt Lance (Voltron), I don't know how to write anything else, I swear, I'm Sorry, Keith (Voltron) is a Mess, Lance (Voltron) Angst, Lance (Voltron)-centric, M/M, Mission Gone Wrong, also Black brings in the calvary, because all my fics are lance centric, but she died young, her name is elena, its important in the story, lance does die, lance has a twin sister, our boy just can't catch a break
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-21
Updated: 2020-10-21
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:35:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27128660
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/delaneym_15/pseuds/delaneym_15
Summary: When lives are on the line, Lance will do anything to protect them. That's how he found himself, injured, dying, and pressing the button that would lead to his demise. Will he have the strength to continue what he started?"Mama used to call you her little warrior for a reason.”
Relationships: Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Series: Chronicles of the Blue Paladin [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1921201
Comments: 7
Kudos: 244





	Loyal, Brave and True

He knew something was wrong the second he woke up that morning. It was that gut feeling you get when you just know that before the day even started you should just head back into bed and give up. 

Honestly, any other day he would have. Any other day he would have given the universe a big old “Fuck No,” and climbed back into the soft warm comfort of his bed. God, what he would give now to be in bed. For this to all just be a nightmare. One where he’d wake in the early hours of the castle’s pseudo earth cycle, turn over and be met but the arms of his boyfriend, more than willing to comfort him until sleep found them again. 

He was far from his little oasis now, and frankly, the chances of him ever returning to it was slim to none. 

He would find no comfort in this dark purple ship. A knock off Deathstar he had called it all those hours ago when Pidge was explaining what it was. The idea was the same anyways, even if it just looked like one of their giant battlecruisers. 

“No Lance, it’s not a Deathstar. A Deathstar uses a lazer to explode planets, this uses Altean Alchemy to draw the quintessence from the planet until there is nothing left. The planet implodes on itself because of it.” 

If you asked him, it was basically the same thing. A giant ship designed to decimate entire planets in the blink of an eye. 

Unlike the Deathstar, however, they couldn’t just hit its weak spot and call it a day. No, they had to set up at least ten bombs, desigened to go off once the last one was put in place and Pidge had been given the all clear to remotely detonate them. 

The idea was that they would set off a chain reaction, first the ship would go down, then cause all of the remaining cruisers to get caught in the blast. A whole fleet gone in less than a minute. 

A genius plan, right? 

Except that Lance still hadn’t set up the very last bomb. Though not for lack of trying. It just so happened that his cover had gotten blown on his way to the spot. 

The first Galra he shot down with ease. Then the second, and the third. 

They weren’t senteries, no, they were full blooded Galra. And there were too many of them. 

“Lance, stop messing around, we need that last explosive!” Pidge called over the coms.

“Alittle busy here, pigeon.” He bit out, lining up another shot. It collided at just the same time Pidge decided to speak. 

“Well get unbusy, the ship is charging its canon. Unless you want to be single handedly ressponisble for the death of the Voltron Coalition Officials, I suggest you get moving!” 

Lance cursed under his breath, taking time to line up one last shot. He didn’t even wait for it to hit its mark, he knew it would, as he spun around and raced down the hallway. 

“How soon until its full?” 

“You’ve got 3 dobashes, Lance hurry!” 

That was when the first shot hit, landing in his lower back. He chanced a look down only to be met with the sight of blodd seeping through his black armor. It had gone straight through. He turned the corner just as a second one hit, this time hitting the back shoulder. The armor was thicker there, but it didn’t stop the seering pain that came from the burn. 

Not wasting a second, he forced his legs to carry him the rest of the way to the room he needed. A control room. 

He burst inside and locked the door, only to be met with a room full of Galra. 

“Shit.” 

The sound of whirrling of guns filled the room as Lance activated his shield and dove into a somersault to the right. The sting in his leg alerted him to the fact that he hadn’t missed all of the shots, but at least it was just a graze.

His bayard shifted from his automatic to a small pistol like gun. Kneeling behind a large box, he raised himself just enough to shoot twice, each bullet landing their mark. He ducked again as another barrage of shots were aimed at him. 

“Two dobashes, Lance!” 

“Thanks for the update Pidge!” He raised himself as shot again, though they weren’t as clean as he would have liked. Chalking it up to the blood loss, Lance knew he was losing in the race against time. 

Shield still activated, he stood up, shooting continuosly. There was no time to worry about where they landed now, no time to focus on clean kills. He had to activate the bomb now, or he never would. 

After a second of silence, he lowered his shield and was relieved to see that he had cleared the room. 

Or so he thought. 

Just as he took the bomb out of the pouch he had been given to carry it, something hard struck up on his head, knocking him to the floor. 

He didn’t have time to realize his mistake before he felt it. The cold metal of a sword push through him as if he were made of butter. It was pulled out before it was plunged a second time, and then a third. 

He knew he was screaming, but no sound came to his ears as his entire world went white with the pain. 

“You dare think you can take us down, tiny paladin?” 

Now, he had to do this now. 

The sword was removed swiftly and before the Galra could imbed it a fourth time, Lance flung himself over. 

“I think I just did.” And before either of them could blink, the bullet collided right between the assailant’s eyes. 

“Lance! Lance are you okay? What happened?” It was Keith this time, terrified as he called for Lance. 

Lance was saved from answering by the pounding on the door, It wasn’t his team, no. He was the only one on the ship. It was the guards, trying to break in and finish what they had started. 

With the last of his strength, Lance flipped himself over. Dragging his refusing body towards the explosive, Lance heard Pidge over the com. 

“Its now or never, Lance. Get here now!” 

He wouldn’t. He knew he wouldn’t. So he picked up the bomb and threw it towards the door. 

He switched his coms to private, there was only one person he wanted to talk to now. 

“Keith.” His breathing was harsh and shallow, and his voice defeated. 

“Lance! Where are you, you need to get back to the Green Lion now!” 

He breathed slowly, everything around him moving in slow motion as the door was finally kicked open. 

“I love you.” 

The room was engulfed in a fiery red. 

\+ 

“What the fuck Pidge, Lance was still in there!” to say Keith was absolutely livid was an understatement. The man he loves was just seriosully hurt and not only did Shiro prohibit Keith from going in there to save him, but Pidge just activated the bombs to blow the whole ship, with no Blue Paladin in sight. 

“Keith” 

“No Shiro, Lance was still in there! He was hurt, and Pidge decided to detonate them anyways! We could have saved him!” 

“Keith…” Pidge’s voice was quiet, there were tears in her eyes as she looked up at the Red Paladin. “I didn’t set them off.” 

Keith stared at her with bewilderment. Pidge was the only one who culd have detonated them. She was the only one with the switch. 

“She’s right Keith, Pidge didn’t even touch the button.” Hunk, Lance’s bestfriend, he’d literally called him his brother was standing up for her? She killed Lance! 

“Then how-” 

“Each bomb comes with a switch to manually set it off. It only works for that one but they were designed to set off a chain reaction. If one were to detonate, the others would as well. I didn’t press the remote switch which means-” 

“Lance did it manually.” Shiro finished for her. 

Keith stared at them. His brain refusing to process anything. Lance wouldn’t do that. He wouldn’t blow himself up just to- yes, yes he would. That self sacrificing idiot would. Especially if he was hurt enough to not be able to even attempt to make it to the Green Lion in the first place. 

They had all heard his screams. Lance had been hurt, and guessing by his choice to set the bombs off himself, it was bad. 

Shiro caught him as he slumped to the floor, his screams would never rival that of Lance’s just moments before, but they hurt all the same. 

There was no way that anyone would be able to survive that, let alone being fatally wounded just before. Lance was gone. Keith had given his entire heart to this boy, only for him to die way before his time. Fighting a stupid war they had no say in. Lance was gone. 

Lance was gone. 

_ “I love you.” _

He never thought he’d hear those words, and now that he had, he’d never hear them again. He never wanted to hear them again. 

A loud roar broke his thoughts, as not one, but three lions sped right past Green. 

The Black Lion, with Red and Blue flanking the left and right side. They seemed to be searching for something. No, someone. And when they found him, they sped back to the castle. Red and Blue providing covering fire for Black all the way to the castle. 

“What?” 

“Castle. Now!” Keith yelled, interrupting Hunk. 

Pidge wasted no time getting Green up into space and spreading away. They had barely landed inside Green’s hangar when Keith bolted out of the lion, heading straight for Black’s. 

\+ 

When the Black lion entered the hangar, Coran and Allura had already made their way there. They watched as the lion carefully placed the Blue Paladin on the metal floor, Coran not hesitating to run towards the boy. 

He quickly tore off the chest piece of armor and felt for a pulse, when he noticed it lacking, he started compressions, a tactic the Blue Paladin himself had taught him. He had started his fifth round of compressions when the rest of the paladins reached the door to the hangars. 

Allura intercepted them before they culd even step foot across the threshold. 

“Give them room.” She said simply, though her tone was solem and tears threatened to spill from her eyes. 

They waited, and waited and waited impatiently. Ticks seemed like hours as they attempted to watch Coran save their friend. 

Now, Coran was by no means a medical expert. He had a bit of training, but he was an advisor through and through. However, he did know When it was time to call it, when it was too late to save his patient. Defeated, he removed his hands, leaning down to softly kiss the forehead of the boy who was once a son to him. 

“I’m so sorry, my boy.” he whispered, before leaning back. He looked to Allura and shook his head. 

“No! No you have to save him! You can’t just-” 

“Keith.” the Red Paladin felt the heavy hand of his brother land on his shoulder. An action that he once found comforting only served to remind him that Lance was dead. 

Swiftly he threw the hand off and sped around the princess, coming to a stop just beside Lance. 

“Please, you have to wake up. Please. Please!” 

Black roared, eyes glowing yellow and the entire room shook. 

Lance shot up, chest heaving and eyes wide though unseeing. Keith gasped and wrapped his arms around Lance in an instant, sobbs wracking his body as he held on to Lance for dear life. 

A tap on his shoulder startled him, as the boy in his arms seemed to slump forward. 

“Keith, we must get him into a pod now.” Coran spoke. He couldn’t bring his lips to form any words so all he did was nod, relinquishing his hold on the Blue Paladin. 

Coran picked Lance up in his arms and hurried out of the hangar towards the infirmary, Allura hot on his heels. 

All Keith could do was sit there, his armor covered in blood but he didn’t care. 

Lance wasn’t dead. 

Lance was alive. 

He was alive! 

\+ 

When he awoke, it wasn’t to the fiery darkness of the Galra Deathstar, nor was it to the brightness of the Altean castle ship he once called home. No, he woke to stars. Above him, around him, below him. Stars were everywhere. 

He was standing, that wasn’t right. He had been shot but there were no bullet wounds. He had been stabbed but there was no blood. 

The ligh blue of hiss tshirt and black of his jeans were spotless, though he knew they shouldn’t be. Then there was light. A blinding, beautiful blue light that engulfed him. It was warm, and calming. A feeling of familiarity he only felt with Blue. 

“Lance!” 

A girl was calling him. He knew that voice. Her voice. It was so melodic, yet he couldn’t shake the hint of wrongness that came with it. 

“Lance, come on! We’re going to be late!” He walked towards it, the voice. Following it deeper and deeper into the vast expanse of blue. 

“There you are! Come on, mom is going to kill us if we’re late for school again!” 

He was standing in his kitchen. Holding a thermos of cocoa that his Veronica had made him. She used to make it for him every morning during winter before school before he went to ther garrison. He turned around to face the voice. 

Her. 

She stood, leaning against the doorframe, dressed in a black college sweater and light denim jeans. Her hair was just as he remembered it, dark chocolate curls that hung heavily and framed her tan skin that matched his. 

But her eyes. 

The eyes that perfectly matched his. The same bright blue everyone would claim could only be achieved by being other worldly. 

_ Elena.  _

“What are you looking at, silly? Come on, you’re slower that a turtle, I swear!” she walked over to him and grabbed his hand, ready to pull him after her. “You know, when you go to the garrison, they’re going to be on your ass abotu being late.” she said, in that matter of fact tone that always had him rolling his eyes, but now all he could do was stare at her. 

“Elena.” 

She stopped walking, turning to him. 

“Y-you’re here?” 

Her confusion formed into something different. Her eyes looked at him sadly as she shook her head. 

“No, Lance. I’m not. Neither are you.” 

“What are you talking about?” 

“Lance, I’m dead, remember?” 

She was right. Of course she was right, she was always right. Elena was dead. She had been for years. She never even reached the age to be able to wear that old sweater. It was always too big on her. 

“...Am- Am I?” 

She hugged him and he was hit with a scent he hadn’t smelled in so long. Her stupid lavender scented shampoo that had more scent than soap. 

“Yeah, you are. Guess twins really do stick together, huh?” 

She let go of him much to quickly. Her eyes meeting his. 

“But you don’t have to be. You can go back.” 

“Elena, you just said I’m dead.” 

“Yeah, but you have a choice I never did. They still need you, Mr. Defender of the Universe. You can go back, finish this.” 

“What if I can’t?” What if he didn’t have the strength? What if he was done. 

Elena breathed a heavy sigh, “I wouldn’t hold it against you. Lance, you’ve always been my hero, and you always will be. That will never change, so I understand if you’re done. You’ve already done so much for so many people. But that doesn’t change the fact that you’ve left people who really need you.” 

He knew she was right. 

He left his family, both families. He left Blue, and Red. He left Keith. 

But did he really have it in him to go back? 

“Lance, I would give everything to be able to hug Mama one last time. To feel the sun on my face and the sand between my toes. You have a chance to do just that.” 

She looked up at him, a sad smile forming on her lips. 

“It won’t be easy, but if anyone can do it big bro, its you. Mama used to call you her little warrior for a reason.” her smile seemed to grow into one of those mischievous ones that lance knew too well. 

_ Oh no, that’s her trouble smile.  _

“Besides, that emo one is too cute to just leave standing.” she laughed as Lance groaned, hiding his face in his hands. “What? Are you going to tell me I’m wrong?” 

Lance shook his head, reaching for her and pulling her into one last hug. He had made up his mind, she was right. They needed him. 

“I love you.” He whispered into her hair. 

“I love you too, now go!” she let go of him and forcefully turned him around, pushing him towards a door that he knew shouldn’t have been there. “Go, show them what McClains are made of!” And he did. Slowly he turned the knob on the door. Opening it, he chanced one last glance at his sister. He smiled at the two thumbs up and giant smile on her face. 

He opened the door fully and walked in. 

\+ 

The next time he woke up, he was falling before two hands caught him. A voice breathed his name, Keith’s voice. 

With Keith and Coran’s help he was able to stand on his own. 

“Easy there, Lance, you gave us quite a scare.” Coran said, walking him over to the infirmary beds to complete one last check. 

When Coran gave Lance the all clear, the door to the infirmary opened leting in the remaining paladins and Allura. 

“Buddy!” Hunk yelled, scooping Lance up in a tight bear hug. 

Everyone took their turns hugging Lance, telling him how happy they were that he was okay when Keith stepped up, pointing a finger at Lance’s hand. 

“What’s that?” 

Lance looked down to see a thin chain held in his left hand, he hadn’t even known he had been holding it the whole time. He smiled as he opened his palm, revealing a small star with a blue stone that matched his eyes. No her eyes. 

“Elena.” 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> So um, yeah I may or may not have had to watch a Captain America fight scene in order to be able to write this one, guys. I'm not ashamed. Not going to lie, I did almost cry writing this. 
> 
> As always, please don't forget to hit that Kudos Button and leave a Comment!


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